crimes committed by totalitarian regimes - Ministrstvo za pravosodje

Crimes committed by totalitarian regimes
in Estonia”, MA Peep Pillak “Expeditions to Burashevo in 1989–1990”, Ülo Puustak “President of
Estonia rests at home”, Peeter Olesk “Economic anatomy of terror”, Dr Urbanavicius, Dr Garmus
and Dr Jankauskas “Clandestine burials of the KGB victims in Vilnius, Tuskulenai site”, Dr
Slawomir Kalbarczyk “Exhumation as a source of knowledge about crimes committed by Soviet
occupants on Polish citizens”, Dr Guntis Zemitis “Latvian experience in terror archaeology”,
Dr Helena Ranta “Identification of the vistims of mass repression”, Prof Halmy Keve Kund
“Exhumation of the corpse of Imre Nagy”, Prof Razumov “The Estonian victims of Stalinist
repression during the 1930’s in Russia”, Vello Salo “Mass repression in Estonia in 1944–1949”.
The conference was supported by the European Commission and the Ministry of Economic Affairs,
Estonia.
A mutual feeling at the conference was that the topic of political repressions should not be forgotten,
but rather on the contrary – the topic is vital and actual also today. The Estonian Heritage Society will
continue the discussion of the recent history of the eastern part of Europe, a follow-up conference
“Political repressions in the 1940’s and 1950’s” will take place on 21–22 August this year, bringing
together speakers from Estonia (including Estonians in exile and now living abroad), Latvia, Lithuania,
Poland, Hungary, Sweden, the Ukraine. It will help create a better understanding of the fairly recent
history of several countries who suffered from political repressions during and after the Second World
War. The conference will take place at the National Library in Tallinn.
The conference speakers include:
– Dr Jaan Tamm, Estonian Heritage Society, “Prison camps in Estonia 1940–1955”,
– MA Peep Pillak, Estonian National Archives, “Estonian volunteers in the Finnish army, who
Finland extradited to the Soviet Union”,
– Dr Mati Mandel, Estonian History Museum, “The fate of Admiral Pitka and his resistance group”,
– Olev Ott, Sweden, “Deportations in 1940 and Estonians in exile – overviews presented in
Swedish school textbooks”,
– Mrs Sandra Kalniete, MP Latvia, “Divided History of Europe”,
– Prof Aigi Rahi-Tamm, University of Tartu, “Deportations in Estonia in 1941–1951”,
– Prof Meelis Maripuu, Estonia, “Prison camps in Estonia during the German occupation”.
Presentations are expected also from Poland, Byelorussia and Lithuania. The conference
proceedings will be published in a book. The conference working languages will be Estonian and
English. The conference is supported by the Education, Audiovisual and Culture Executive Agency of
the EC and the Estonian Ministry of Culture. It will be free of charge for participants.
The aim of the conference is to contribute to the preservation and commemoration of the victims
of deportation and mass repression, to disseminate the understanding of the complex history of Estonia,
and to improve the knowledge of the present and future generations on the period 1939 to 1955. In the
light of recent rapid developments as Estonia has joined the European Union and NATO, the younger
generation especially is not keen to know or remember the more “distant” history, which, however,
has significant impact on the whole development process, and present day, not only in Estonia, but
similarly on many other East European countries. Crimes committed by all totalitarian regimes need to
be recognised as crimes.
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